Ep. 601: What Should Be Our Focus During These Days Following Tisha B’Av?

Rabbi Jacobson will discuss the following topics:
 What should be our focus during these days following Tisha B'Av? 
 
15 Av 

• What is the relevance of this day? 
• Why is it considered the greatest holiday together with Yom Kippur? 
• Why did they break the axe after finishing the yearly wood chopping quota instead of keeping it for next year? 
• Will this day still be celebrated after Moshiach comes? Or will the transformed 9th of Av supplant this day? 
• What maamar or sicha do you suggest we learn explaining this day? 

• What lessons do we learn from living with the times, with this week’s Torah parsha? 
• How does Eikev allude to ikvasa d’meshicha, the heel/footsteps of Moshiach?  
• What is the meaning of ikvasa d’meshicha – why is it called “heel”? What is its significance? 
• What's the difference between the footsteps of Moshiach, the days of Moshiach, and the era of Moshiach? And which stage are we in today? 
• Why is Eikev the gematria of the 172 words of the Ten Commandments? 
• Are the seven species that with which Israel is blessed (wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates) healthier for us? 
• Why is the second set of tablets greater than the first? 

• If we are comforted by being shown the third temple on Shabbos Chazon, why do we additionally need Shabbos Nachamu? 
• Why is there a double expression of consolation – Nachamu Nachamu stated twice? 
• Can we say that the first half of summer is sadder due to The Three Weeks, and the second half is happier due to the Seven Weeks of Comfort? 
• What can one do if they don't feel consoled on this Shabbos due to the active problems that exist in the world? 

• Why was Moshe told to stop praying to enter Israel when we are taught that prayer has the power to change G-d's will? 
• Was Moshe praying or asking for a gift? 
• Is it risky to ask G-d for a favor? 

• How is it possible that with the great revelations of holiness in the Beis Hamikdash people were able to sin and cause its destruction? 
• Is the Beis Hamikdash an actual physical structure or is it a superconscious collective state of harmony between the spiritual and physical world? 
• Even if we aren’t allowed to rebuild the Beis Hamikdash, can we start collecting money for it?  
• Is Israel holy because the Beis Hamikdash was there, or was the Beis Hamikdosh there because Israel is holy? 
• When Moshiach comes, will we all feel it? 

• Why does the Torah name some villains and not others? 
• Why did the sages not speak up in defense of Bar Kamtza and why is the name of the host not mentioned – the Chasam Sofer’s explanation? 

Eikev Nachamu Vaetchanan Rebuilding the Temple Kamtza and Bar Kamtza – follow-up